This invention relates generally to an instructional system for teaching how best to execute a sport by visually recording a person's performance in the sport and comparing the execution to a model. In particular, this invention relates to a system and method that quickly and economically creates high quality, complete personalized, individualized and customized videotape lessons for large groups with little human intervention.
Form, body position, and execution are important ingredients to success in all sports. The best way to achieve success is under the direction of a professional instructor who can observe the athlete's execution and correct the athlete's position and motion. The athlete's execution can even be video recorded and reviewed later by the athlete and/or the instructor.
In the sport of golf, systems have been proposed to record a golfer's swing and then analyze the swing according to precise principles. For example, a system described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,061 to Nakashima et al. converts recorded video images of a golfer's swing into a plurality of still images and superimposes on the still images correction pictures consisting of a series of lines connecting various points on the golfer's body and club. The resulting pictures are then recorded onto a videotape, and additional visual and/or audio information can then be added to the videotape.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,410 to Nakayama et al. describes a motion diagnosis system in which retro-reflective tape is pasted onto a plurality of points on a golfer's body and golf club, the golfer's golf swing is recorded, images of the swing are sampled and converted to digital signals, and positional data is extracted from the plurality of points to which the tape was pasted. The positional data is then compared to reference data to create a diagnosis of the golfer's swing based on the difference between the positional and reference data.
As yet a further example, a system described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,891,748 to Mann captures a video image of a golf student's swing, generates a superior performance model golf player having physical dimensions scaled to those of the golfer, and overlays the image of the model onto the image of the student. The model is computer generated and includes composite average swing movements of a plurality of golf players, enhanced using statistical identification of the critical performance patterns of the swing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,001 to Baker is still another example of a system for producing a personalized golf video. Baker discloses an instructional system in which previously recorded instructional material of a non-personalized nature may be added to a video cassette, and regenerated signals of a pupil's audio-visual presentation may be then simply added to the prerecorded material. The resulting single recording then shows (a) an initial complete recorded procedure of instruction, as currently presented with audio-visual presentations; (b) an addition of their current movements, procedures, images etc. taken before regeneration; and (c) the final regenerated personalized audio-visual changes.
Successful instructors recognize that instruction must be tailored to the student. For example, well known to golf instructors is that although each golfer's swing may be unique, golf instruction must be customized to the golfer and different instructional needs arise because of differences in sex, age, flexibility, body type and size, etc.
Prior art systems did not advise the student of these nuances. Rather these prior art video systems merely presented the bio-technical data and leave it up to the student or personal instructor to interpret the results. Thus, for example, prior art videotapes could universally present the proper stance and posture; however, they could not customize the videotape to verbally tell the student the faults with his stance and posture and demonstrate and explain why that positioning was inferior to the proper position for that student's characteristics. These prior art systems ignored that no one stance and posture is correct for all golfers. Their approach to golf is no different than would be a doctor who blindly diagnosed a person with certain blood pressure or cholesterol results without knowing other factors about the patient. Additionally, many systems simply provide the data and leave it up to the instructor or student to interpret the data. For example, can a patient interpret a blood pressure reading of 140 over 100 without a doctor or medical book.
Thus, rather than providing a precise geometrical or statistical analysis of a golfer's swing, as accomplished by the systems described above, it is preferable to customize the videotape to teach students which aspects of swing position are fundamentally important to the student's own swing and which aspects are merely matters of personal style. Furthermore, the instruction should account for the student's own particular body type, physical characteristics, and handicaps. Traditionally, as did some prior art systems, an instructor explained the basic fundamentals of a good swing while the student and instructor review the student's videotaped swing in order to interpret the results. However, such personalized instruction is expensive and time consuming, and thus inaccessible to a large portion of the general public and to large groups at one time. Equally important is that the quality of the lesson depended on instructor's ability, disposition at the time of the individual lesson and equipment available to document the lesson.
Inspirational value of personalized instruction is more subjective but undeniably important. To watch and listen to an acknowledged master or admired role model can often motivate physical feats where lessons or practice frequently fail. However, few if any students ever have the opportunity to receive personal coaching from such an instructor. Even if the student could afford to purchase such instruction, there is simply not enough masters and role models to go provide personalized instruction to all who could benefit.
Thus, a system is needed in which a professional instructor or athlete provides training on the basic fundamentals of a good swing that varies from student to student depending on that student's needs and characteristics. A recognized inspirational professional would provide uniformly superior instruction that would be unvarying for day to day, week to week. In such a system, for example, a professional's swing could be shown next to the student's swing to help students understand the fundamentals. However, both the professional's swing and verbal instructions would depend on the individual student's characteristics. The system should be available to a mass population of golfers, and to large number of golfers at a time, and should provide the instruction in a form which allows students to carefully and repeatedly review the instruction at their own leisure and in the convenience of their own homes using standard commercially available videotape or other commonly available electronic equipment.
To be economical any system should reduce to the minimum the need for human participation in the customization of the lesson to the student's characteristics. To handle large groups of students, for example, 200 golfers during a typical 6 hour tournament, the system should be able to produce large quantities of personalized tapes in a short period of time. To minimize the amount of production equipment the system should spend relatively short periods producing each videotape, in recording the student golfer's swing, analyzing that swing, and creating the videotape lesson.
However, past systems that produced golf instruction videotapes have not been able to sufficiently tailor the instruction to provide instruction on the same level as a personal instructor without extensive human involvement. They lacked automation that permitted high quality, professional personalized video instruction. These systems effectively eliminated the personalized instruction. In effect, they offered one lesson for all. Alternatively, the prior art employed personal human instructors with the attendant disadvantages: high cost, inconsistent quality, varying ability, limited availability, inadequate product yield, and lots of time needed to produce 200 tapes.
Moreover, the system should not necessarily be restricted to videotapes. Other systems are presently available, including CD-ROM and video disk, and more will undoubtedly will soon at hand that can present to a student golfer video and audio instruction. Any system should be adaptable to these other media.
The present invention provides such a system and solves these and other problems associated with existing golf video systems.